02 July 2024, In a significant milestone, Steve Ballmer surpassed Bill Gates on Monday to become the sixth-richest person in the world. This marks the first time the former CEO of Microsoft Corp. has been wealthier than the company’s co-founder.
The shift came as Microsoft’s shares soared to a new record, achieving a 21% gain this year. Microsoft has been a major beneficiary of the artificial intelligence boom, thanks to its partnership with OpenAI, which has significantly driven up its stock value.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, over 90% of Steve Ballmer’s $157.2 billion net worth is tied up in Microsoft shares. In contrast, Gates has diversified his $156.7 billion fortune. About half of Gates’ wealth is managed through Cascade Investment, a firm established with proceeds from Microsoft stock sales and dividends. Notably, Gates also holds a $21 billion stake in Republic Services Inc., a waste-management company, through Cascade.
Gates, 68, has been steadily reducing his fortune through extensive philanthropic efforts. Along with his ex-wife Melinda French Gates and their friend Warren Buffett, Gates has channeled billions into the $75 billion Gates Foundation, one of the world’s largest charitable organizations. Since its inception over two decades ago, Gates and French Gates have donated nearly $60 billion from their personal wealth. French Gates recently stepped down as co-chair of the foundation and received $12.5 billion for her own charitable endeavors.
In 2010, Gates, French Gates, and Buffett also founded the Giving Pledge, an initiative that encourages the world’s wealthiest individuals to donate the majority of their fortunes either during their lifetimes or through their wills. While Ballmer, 68, has not signed the Giving Pledge, he is involved in philanthropic activities, though not to the same extent as Gates.
Gates founded Microsoft with his friend Paul Allen in 1975 and led the company until 2000, when Ballmer one of Microsoft’s earliest employees succeeded him as CEO. Ballmer retired in 2014 and subsequently became Microsoft’s largest shareholder. In 2014, he purchased the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers for $2 billion, an investment now estimated to be worth $4.6 billion.
Steve Ballmer’s ascent past Gates in wealth highlights the profound impact of Microsoft’s continued success and the dynamic shifts within the ranks of the world’s richest individuals.
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